Rescue Boat for Fire Service
17 October, 2007
The 4.8 metre long Ribcraft boat has a 12-gallon fuel tank and a 50hp engine which means that it is equipped for: Incidents which are likely to last a long time; Incidents in fast-flowing water; Rescues involving multiple casualties.
It is also fitted with a GPS and depth-sounder, and lights so that it can be used at night.
Vital Role
The boat will be a vital part of the equipment available to the new Specialist Rescue Team (SRT) which is currently being trained in Nottinghamshire.
The 48-strong team will be dedicated to more complex and unusual rescues when it becomes fully operational next year. The SRT will be called out to incidents such as such as traffic collisions involving large vehicles (eg. lorries, buses, trains), rescuing people from height (eg. chimneys, towers, cliffs) and from water (eg. rivers, lakes, ponds, flooded areas).
Team members will be trained on the new Ribcraft boat over the next few months, and they expect it to be in use early in 2008. The boat, which comes with its own trailer, will be based at Dunkirk Fire Station in the first instance, moving to the new station at Hassocks Lane, Beeston when the building is complete.
”Exciting Development”
Station Manager Bryn Coleman, who is leading the project to establish the SRT, said: “The arrival of the new boat is an exciting development for water rescue in Nottinghamshire, as it gives us even more scope to help people in trouble in water, whether it’s on a river, a lake or in flood water.
“The Specialist Rescue Team will be a highly trained group of specialists who will be called upon when needed, providing technical expertise at incidents which, thankfully, don’t happen too often. But when they do, it’s comforting to know that there is a group of people with the knowledge and skills to help.”
By The Editor.
